I’m not going to list all the  events  mostly because I doubt I would remember them correctly.  There was a USDDN local with CFDDC where Lilli finished 3rd to qualify for nationals.  There was a local USDDN TF event where Lilli finished 4th (Donna Schoech bested us in a throw off) .  We would consider just doing TF at nationals if our freestyle game isn’t up to par.   We did a UFO event just this past week with Lilli finishing 2nd between the 1st and 3rd efforts of Gary Duke.  Most of these events were windy and my success with Lilli hinged mostly on our high toss and fetch scores.  Kai finished 5th and Moxie 6th at this event.  A big improvement for the rookies.  Next up is a Florida Skyhoundz event which we hear is quite competitive!

Speaking of competitive, one of the dangers of competing is losing sight of fun.  Most of March was a drag for me as I struggled with inconsistent freestyle throws.  My ratios were way down as missed trick after missed trick piled up in my head.  Finally I had enough, it was not working and I was frustrated.  When I looked at what was missing that would make the difference, I realized it was fun.  I was putting too much pressure on myself to be “good” and to compete and I was not having as much fun playing with my dogs.  So I reframed it, putting fun back where it belongs, first and foremost with my dogs. I’m not that concerned with winning or keeping score so I was surprised by how I got caught up in the competition part.    When I step back I can see and accept that I am a slow and steady learner and that my time with my dogs will be much better spent playing and having fun and the scores and wins are the stuff that happens when I finish playing.

Another breakthrough this month was getting Leila on the field for some toss and fetch.  Leila is very social and loves everyone and everything with little love for work at this point.  So we were very concerned to let her loose on a field surrounded by dogs and people.  The first event Andrea kept her on a long lead and the second event she let her off the lead and Leila stayed on the field and chased plastic.   When we move later this month we will be able to practice toss and fetch with her.

Kai is another breakthrough this month as she has struggled with staying focused and on the field her last few events.  Her first TF (Sept09)  she r-u-n-n-o-f-t each round in pursuit of whatever moved and did not want to recall.  At the CFDDC March USDDN event, during her freestyle session, she caught a long skip and proceeded to do her own thing for 15 seconds until I got her back.  At the Markham park TF she had to stop at this one spot and sniff for an extendededed period of time.   At each event she showed a lot of potential.  She is an awesome TF dog and tho her freestyle game is limited, she LOVES to vault!  So at the most recent UFO event she had a clean freestyle round and 3 clean TF rounds. No sniffing, running off, or nature breaks.  One thing that helped I think was walking her all over the place to get in her sniffing quota before the event and a potty break before every run.

Andrea and Moxie grew so much in March.   They are a good pairing.  Moxie is non stop giving 100% and so is Andrea.  The two big challenges for Andrea are having consistent TF efforts and keeping her routine grounded a bit because Moxie loves to take it as high as she can.   Andrea ironed out both of those issues by the end of the month.  Moxie’s TF efforts were excellent with no prejumping, great tracking and speedy returns.  With more experience Moxie will be really have a strong TF game.  Moxie is a big air super fast and energetic dog ACD and harnessing that into a smooth flowing freestyle session is a challenge that fits Andrea.  Andrea is developing flow and rythm and has a great feel for Moxie in just a few months.  Moxie has improved in every way from her house behavior to TF.

Moving to the new house will help us all improve our Toss and Fetch game thanks to the big yard.  I need to measure for exact distance but I estimate it is close to 50yards corner to corner.  We had to go house hunting because the local parks we had been utilizing hired an officer to police the dogs off leash rules.  And our yard is too small for TF and takes a beating from the 4 hard cutting Aussies.  We lose the pool and water view but we gain a stress free practice area and a new town to explore – Jupiter Farms.

Andrea and I would really like to host a Palm Beach disc dog club.  A group of people we could play and grow with in the sport in our own neighborhood.  We have had a half dozen people come over to play with the DragonDogs over the past few months the latest of which was Diane Ford with her 2 kids and 2 furkids Stormy and Mystic the puppy.  Diane wants to socialize her puppy and felt that our playful energetic pack was good company for her puppy. On the second visit Mystic had her first swim in the pool.

We are still learning and adjusting and training for pack dynamics.  As long as there are no new additions, I think the pack will settle in over the next 6 months.  We’ll train a bit more patience with Lilli, a bit more sense for Leila and a bit more confidence for Kai.  Moxie, well, we just need to work on her banshee screeching.    Andrea and I will put a bit more emphasis on creative throws so that means lots of passing back and forth – learning through play as our friends at Pawsitive Vybe say.

That’s when we discovered Hero Discs.  I’ve noticed over the past year, lots of people have switched over to Hero from Fastback – and there are so many varieties.  I’m the one who handles all of the disc ordering in the house, so I know them all by name and weight and function.

We switched Lilli to Super Hero discs exclusively after trying all of the “Super” style discs (Super = hard bite/durable) – and pretty much everyone we talk to – all the old cats – think it’s ridiculous that we use such a heavy, soft disc for freestyle.   We did come from an Ultimate background after all, so although Super Heros are the heaviest disc, they are still quite a bit lighter and smaller than the 175′s we’re used to tossing.

When we got Moxie -Tracy had tested her on Fastbacks, so I tried those out first.  She had a really solid 85% catch percentage right out of the shelter.  I didn’t want to mess with it, so I stuck with light discs.  Fastbacks had the same effect though and Moxie’s typical ACD jaws of death literally tore through each disc in one session.  I heard about the new Hero 235′s, so I got a set of those reading that they fly like a Fastback, but they are more durable.  That is accurate – they don’t tear like Fastbacks do, but they still get really punctured and edgy after a few sessions – albeit lasting much longer than it’s predecessor.

Moxie and I have been practicing for our freestyle routine for the upcoming USDDN Fun in the Sun Qualifier this weekend and her catch percentage the past 2 weeks or so has tanked.  The conditions have been windier and her inexperience has made it hard for her to read discs and again, being a cattle dog, she tends to pre-jump in anticipation.  After 5 or so rough routines in a row, and most of the misses coming on her usually-rock-solid 20 yard toss and catch, we did a run-through with Jason’s Super Heros.  It was also the first practice without 20 mph wind gusts too so go figure.

The result was much improved.  She had a much higher catch percentage than with the 235′s and BOY does she LOVE to tug those rubbery discs!!!  I can hang on fine if I keep her front feet off the ground, but if she gets full tug leverage with those discs – wow she’ll take my fingers off with her head whip!  So I’ve decided this weekend for the event, I’ll run her with Super Heros and see how that works.  I’ll likely catch all the same “heavy disc” flack from the veterans…

Next up – a post about all the different disc types, styles, weights, etc that we’ve tried over the past 3 years.

Last night I figured I’d try teaching her to flip in the usual space where we do all of her shaping – inside on the carpet.  She loved it!  She did some little “umpa lumpas” and was very emphatic and focused.  I think I’m on to something!

This morning, she was extra amped and playful in her crate so I brought her out to try some more flip practice on the shaping carpet.  She was a disc monster – tugging and flipping and stretching to do more a real flip motion while coming back for more.  (Most often outside during training, she’ll take a tug but doesn’t hold or really pull on the disc.)

I have a new plan.  I’ll teach her to flip, catch butterflies and some short tosses on the carpet inside and when I feel she’s super confident, bring it back outside.  Hopefully building her confidence in the action itself, when she goes outside to practice, the stress of the training itself will be minimized or gone altogether. Check out a quick video of this morning’s session.

We’ve also put a couple more pounds on her over the past few weeks after Jason suggested it may be better for her.  She was very lean like the other girls – which is what I like to see in a disc dog.  However she comes from conformation lines and it seemed she was too lanky -and floppy.  She now seems much more balanced and strong and she didn’t flop at all during flip training – rather landed soundly.

I love the challenge that our girls have brought to us.  They are all very different and it has motivated me to be a multi-dimensional trainer versus just doing things the one way I know how.  We have one hardcore, one soft and one aloof.  I’m certainly looking forward to our next hardcore!!  Learning about the different personalities and training styles that are effective for each dog have taught me the value of assessing the individual dog for how they learn.  There isn’t a single perfect formula.  I plan to write a post soon about different training approaches.  The thought came to me after a great conversation with Apryl Lea yesterday – she helped me by figuring out what type of student I am.  Anyway…more on that later…

Emily requested a Leilani fix today – so shall she receive.

Lei has been developing slowly as a disc dog.  We figured when we got her as a puppy, it would be the same as getting Lilli as a puppy – she would grow up living frisbee and loving nothing else.  About 6 months ago, she started stressing when playing disc outside.  She loves to tug with the disc, but when it comes to rollers and throws, she’ll only stay focused for a minute – 2 minutes tops.  We’ve noticed she doesn’t require play/work like the other girls and is happy to be a couch potato all day.  The perfect family pet!

Considering all of this, I’ve decided to focus on her being our trick dog.  She LOVES shaping and is very happy to train for quite a while – never losing focus or drive.  We’ll give her a break from disc work and keep it to a couple simple catches and tugging and see if she grows into it.

Here’s a video of Leila’s shaping session earlier today.  Watching it back, it seems like all the stuff she’s working on is her favorite trick – and that’s a very good thing!

If anyone has any cool shaping trick ideas – please post them here!!  We love the feedback!

This was Jason and Lilli’s second freestyle competition and they rocked it!  Unfortunately, only 2 novice teams showed up.  That may make it appear that it wasn’t much to finish first…  To give FULL credit where it’s due, Jason and Lilli scored 79 points between their freestyle and D/A scores, (at Canis #1, Jason and Lilli scored 65 – what an improvement!) and the top finisher, Gary Duke, in the Super Open Division (expert) finished with 85 points I think it was…and they score more for each area by 3 points (I believe that’s how it works). We’re confident that she’ll be able to keep up with the big boys when she moves up from Novice at our next event!

Lilli caught every single disc and Jason made good throws each and every time.  It was a brilliant routine and we’re so proud of our freestyle team!  Check out Lilli’s newest trick, the butterfly back flip!  It was SICK!  Here’s the video:

Kai and I registered for her first Distance/Accuracy event.  My expectations were to keep her on the field, and my hopes were that she’d play just like we do at the parks and fields we train on.  D/A includes 2 rounds – 60 seconds each – where the object is to throw the disc within the boundaries of the field – ideally in the 40 yard zone.  The team is awarded .5 points additional for each catch made in the air versus with any paws on the ground.

Our first round, I didn’t notice that in the next field over, people we practicing long throws with their dogs.  She lined up fine and went around fine – ran out, caught the first disc, spotted the dog in the next field streaking after a long disc and schoooooommm…she was off to the races after that dog and his disc.

The next round, our plan was to keep it really, really short and add lots of tug with the goal of just keeping her on the field. We asked that the other competitors keep the plastic out of the air while we were up and that worked like a charm.  I first tossed the disc 5 yards and recalled and she came.  Then 7 yards a few times and she came each time and we tugged each time.  Jason thought I certainly could have stretched it to a further throw – I was a bit too nervous.  We got a nice cheer from the crowd each time she caught the discs and came back!

After the event was over, Jason and I took her back out on the field, with other dogs playing nearby, and threw long throws.  She came back each and every time!  I’m so glad this first time experience is over and done with and we can look forward to a solid round next Saturday!  The camera didn’t record Kai’s rounds.  Jason was judging and something happened and it didn’t record.  Can’t say I’m disappointed!  We’ll have fresh video of a great 2 rounds next weekend!

When we first heard of Kai (then her name was Sketch), we were told she was a high drive Aussie with performance potential.  We weren’t really looking for another dog – Leila was only 6 months old and we still had a TON of training to do that was keeping us busy…but I couldn’t resist at least connecting with the breeder and current family and learning a bit more about her.  We had an Aussie Pool Party and invited Kai, her owners and Ami Boxer and her pack – who includes Kai’s sire.  I was pretty sure in the first few minutes that she wasn’t what we were looking for performance wise.  We enjoyed the day none-the-less and I really enjoyed connecting and talking dogs with Ami.

The owners asked that we give her another review without all the hoopla – that she’d show more drive and focus.  I had shared with Jason before we met her that I’d only want to take her if she was already catching or at least tracking the disc and had basic obedience and a nice pile of drive to play with.  She had none of the above.  We then found out that Kai shares Lilli’s grandsire – they’re cousins – so we gave her a 1 week trial. Her current owners had allergies and she was overwhelming them a bit.  We were leaving in a week to go to Ron Watson’s Pawsitive Vybe Disc Dog Camp in Michigan and really struggled with whether to take her or return her.  It really came down to guilt…if I’m to be completely honest.  I didn’t have the heart to give her back to a family that wasn’t able to really work her.  Several friends (and experts) advised us against keeping her for those reasons.  When we went to Susan Garrett’s Skills camp in Ontario after Ron’s camp, Jason reminded me of a valuable thing that Susan shared.  ANY healthy/sound dog can be a successful performance dog with the right kind of training – or at the very least – a great family pet.  I was really just looking for the easy way out – and Kai was going to be a lot of work.  During our deluxe road trip to the north-country we decided to keep her.

This really ended up being a long story…  Lots of performance trainers of all different sports pick and choose their dogs – all requiring specific criteria.  Others like Ron and Apryl often end up keeping high risk dogs – performance viable or not – just because they have nowhere else to go – hence a houseful of dogs!  We had a choice with Kai.  I’m sure that her sliding doors future would have looked very different from the dog she is today had we not made that choice.  And not necessarily good or bad – just amazingly different.

In less than 2 months of focused training, Kai has transformed from a no-to-low drive, not focused, lacking basic obedience, no retrieve and generally aloof attitude towards training to a focused, driven, tracking and retrieving, jumping, flipping machine who demands play several times a day and belly rubs at night…all night.  It really came down to Jason’s challenge – that Kai would prove whether or not I’m a good dog trainer.  We got lucky with Lilli and we know it.  Kai wasn’t being handed to us a finished dog.  I like challenges.

So with no further adieu – here is a video of Kai we shot today in the outer band winds of Hurricane Ida – practicing for her first D/A event this weekend at Canis Major.  She’s amazing.  A different dog.  We chose her as a superstar – even though she didn’t appear to be that initially.  I’m grateful for the challenge and rewards of transforming and growing with her.

The first date for Canis Major #1 was sometime in September, but it was rained out.  Then rained out again the next weekend.  Followed by several weeks of finals and worlds freestyle competitions…finally we had a date…AND IT DIDN’T RAIN!  It was also close enough to Halloween to make it an extra Spooktacular event with costumes and everything!

We had been working on the routine for over a month with a couple-week-long hiatus in the middle where we did nothing but free play and practicing vaults.  Jason kept the routine simple, with staple moves we knew were solid and we added the noodle in the beginning for fun. (Noodle is Lilli’s latest trick – a backwards walking weave)  It was a windy day but they all had a ton of time to throw and practice with the wind and our Hero Discs made it easier.  Jason got several compliments on his great throws in the D/A round of the event.

The big lesson I learned…check the CD with the routine music.  Make sure it plays.    Of course, ours didn’t so that made for an interesting beginning to the routine and some extra time for Lilli and Jason to connect before starting.  I don’t think anyone really got the coolness of the song we picked considering it sounded all crackly from us rigging the iphone to their equipment.  After the music drama was over…Jason and Lilli rocked it.  Here’s their vid.

Lilli and Jason took first place on Saturday.  I am so proud of them, I can’t even express it all.  Lilli has won everything she’s ever tried, the first time out.  She’s amazing.  If she wasn’t our first disc dog, she’d probably already be competing on a National and World level.  I guess everyone starts out with an amazing crash dummy dog that they break while trying to figure out how this disc dogging thing works.  It started with just wanting a dog to fetch and retrieve a frisbee…and look at her now.  Proud Mama. 

Leila taught me about the fragile nature and importance of puppy growth.  I could pick the perfect puppy, with the perfect structure and breeding and temperament – do all of the right training from the start (Susan Garrett’s Puppy Camp at 11 weeks old), provide the healthiest organic foods and all it takes is one topple off the bed at 4 months old to potentially wreck her performance career.  I mean, what puppy doesn’t slide of the bed onto a carpeted floor?

Leila’s got a date with an ortho specialist on Wednesday.  She’s a little wonky in her rear and walking stiffly.  The breeder – Ellen – thought that it sounded a bit like a ruptured cruciate…  “A What?”, I said.  Unfortunately it’s pretty common in dogs and the description of it is pretty much what happened and how she looks now…which is not reassuring.  We’ll get some new films and see what we’ve got.  I’m going to keep in mind that we’re just taking precautions – making sure that there aren’t any injuries that need immediate attention.  I’m sure she’ll be fine and she’ll be back to catching discs and jumping high in a few months.

In the mean time, check out how long her legs have gotten!!  She’s looking long, lean and mean and can’t wait to get back to our disc training routine.  Considering how much crate time she’s had, and how little physical training – she’s been a champ.

She is growing beautifully.  I think that her long legs will really help her vertical.  Who says that conformation dogs are too big and heavy to be great disc dogs!  She’s got a better build that Lilli – and Lilli is a superstar!  Keep the positive juices flowing…

So that’s the preamble…

Lately I’ve been working on Lilli’s contacts.  Not much honestly – I’ve pretty much sold out on aility lately since Lilli started vaulting – it’s just so stinkin’ fun!    Anyway, we originally trained contacts as two-on-two-off with nose touch.  She would do it, but we had to encourage and remind her to come ALL THE WAY DOWN the contact equipment and Holy Moley did that take forever.  For such a ridiculously fast dog, her contacts move in reverse.   Today I had a brilliant idea…I heard music and saw Angels and the image in my mind became clear…the tasty, juicy, irresistable roast as the reward at the end of the obstacle…it was a FRISBEE!

I took Lilli out as I normally would, with a disc in hand (only one this time) and she fully expected us to play disc.  I pulled out the teeter and put it in the middle of the yard with no other equipment.  I set her up and asked her to teeter.  Now at this point, I didn’t say “touch” or “com’on’” or “all the way” or any of the “helping” I would normally offer to get her to do a proper contact.  (Susan Garrett suggested this as a bandaid for her contacts from how I trained them initially – with a plastic lid to a salad dressing.  If the lid wasn’t there – she wouldn’t target.)

Man, was she confused.  She went 3/4 of the way down and started offering behaviours.  Had no idea what I wanted but she sure wanted that frisbee.  She sat on the teeter, laid down, bowed, stared intently…finally after about 2 minutes she took a small step down…then another…then another…until she had one paw on the grass.  The I looked at her and said nothing (before this I didn’t give her any eye contact or stare down).  She slowly put another foot in the grass.  Then 30 seconds or so later she nose touched.  I said a big YES and released her and threw the disc.

We repeated this about 5 times.  I only rewarded average or better performances – another great Susan method – a couple times she went slower than the time before – and finally when she had the nicest, smoothest trip down the teeter, two on and two off and nose touch I ended the practice.  Tossed the disc several times and she went for a swim.

And I took a deep breath of relief.

Finally…the light went on a bit.  She’s learning to think instead of waiting for me to tell her everything.  Finally.

We’ll continue to practice this “disc reward” strategy for agility and see if it keeps the stakes really high for her.  There is no reward as juicy and irresistable for Lilli as her disc.  I’m so proud of  how she took on our new game today with control, curiosity and concentration.  She’s such a spectacular girl. 

With all this play and training, we’ve really developed her vaults and have branched out into new and cool trick ideas now that the vaults are easy for her.  We don’t need a bunch of clips from several different sessions to get great vaults and vid snippets now, so we decided to take some video of one of Lilli’s daily practice sessions and post it up just as it is.  It’s amazing how much we take for granted each day.  In just 1 month, Lilli has gone from just learning to vault to hitting them each time like they are easy.  It wasn’t that long ago that she was a scrappy puppy digging holes in the yard…

Jason took this AMAZING shot of Lilli this week. What perfect timing!

Now that we’ve got so much material to work with, we’ll make these session videos more often.  To watch from a different perspective – aka see yourself throwing the disc on video and it looks completely different than you thought it did -  has so much value.  I watched the part on this video where we were working on Up and Over and saw that I wasn’t flat at all – no wonder she couldn’t get up and over!  Later that afternoon I went out with her and tried again – flattening my back fast and WALA – she did it!

Anyways…here’s her vid.  Enjoy!